Salute to Vienna New Year’s Concert is a joyful, lively experience that has delighted audiences in Vancouver for more than 25 years. Every holiday season, this beloved tradition bursts to life at the Orpheum Theatre with music, bright costumes, and lush flowers. As dancers enliven timeless melodies, including the Blue Danube Waltz, the Maestro regales the audience with stories (and a joke or two) from the conductor’s podium. Ring in 2026 with soaring arias, romantic duets, and festive overtures, courtesy of the “Waltz King,” Johann Strauss Jr.

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Salute to Vienna New Year’s Concert

Orpheum

Conductor Nicolas Ellis returns to the VSO to lead Rachmaninoff’s beloved Variations on a Theme of Paganini, poignantly interpreted by pianist Joyce Yang, known for her “vivid and beautiful playing” (The New York Times). Inspired by Danté’s Divine Comedy, Tchaikovsky’s retelling of Francesca da Rimini overflows with passion and tragedy. Mel Bonis’s musical tribute to women of legend presents compelling portraits of Cleopatra, Ophelia and Salome.

Tchaikovsky & Rachmaninoff

Centennial Theatre

Sullivan Heights Secondary School

Written against the backdrop of World War I, Nielsen’s Fourth Symphony, “The Inextinguishable”, stands as a beacon at the onset of the twentieth century. From its thunderous opening to one of the most stunning finales of the orchestral repertoire, the symphony comes to a grand close with a triumphant and enormous affirmation of life itself. Pianist Orli Shaham then joins Maestro Robertson for John Adams’ wickedly entertaining piano concerto in its long-anticipated Vancouver premiere.

Nielsen’s “The Inextinguishable”

From the opening of Prokofiev’s Romeo and Juliet to selections from The Phantom of the Opera and Bernstein’s West Side Story, host Christopher Gaze takes us on a journey of star-crossed lovers. Conductor Andrew Crust rounds out the program with music from The Shape of Water, Casablanca, Gone with the Wind and the “Across the Stars Love Theme” from Star Wars.

Star-crossed Lovers

Podcast link: https://youtu.be/4hagYvrYbuM

The Artelize Podcast and Kasper Holten - Pedefining Opera for the modern world

Podcast link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d36M5Hi6O80

The Artelize Podcast - A legacy of innovation in Opera: Celebrating Marc A. Scorca

Podcast link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=59E40S_EQSY

The Artelize Podcast: A love letter that was never sent

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The Artelize Podcast and Adolfo Corrado: Mediterranean flavors, opera and social media

One of the world’s foremost violinists, Gil Shaham rises to the challenge of Brahms’ only Violin Concerto, famously called “unplayable” due to its reckless speed and agility. Continuing on a daring note, conductor Han-Na Chang tempts Fate itself with Tchaikovsky’s magnificent Fifth Symphony. Canadian composer Ian Cusson’s tone poem, A Child’s Bright Eyes, takes inspiration from the work of late East Van poet, Zaccheus Jackson.

Brahms & Tchaikovsky 5

Revolutionary in its day, Beethoven’s Eroica Symphony pulses with the composer’s signature emotional power and sense of drama. Widely regarded as the greatest symphony of all time, Han-Na Chang conducts this groundbreaking work that announced the dawn of the Romantic movement and changed music forever. Henry Shapard, Principal Cello of the VSO, teams up with the orchestra for Prokofiev’s spirited and uplifting Sinfonia Concertante.

Beethoven’s Eroica

Feel the beat with an evening of pulsing music led by Conductor Naomi Woo. Haydn’s “Drumroll” Symphony kicks things off on a thrilling note, alongside Ravel’s iconic Boléro with driving snare drum and one of the most unforgettable climaxes in classical music. Performed at the BBC Proms in 2022 by percussionist Colin Currie, Nicole Lizée’s concerto for percussion and orchestra, Blurr is the Colour of My True Love’s Eyes, is a tour-de-force inspired by techniques found in stop-motion film and photography.

Ravel’s Boléro

When conductor Jun Märkl and violinist Stefan Jackiw last performed together with the VSO, The Vancouver Sun described their collaboration as “stellar”. Ten years later, they reunite to present Prokofiev’s emotionally intense Second Violin Concerto. Takemitsu’s meditative Ceremonial contrasts the euphoric finale of Brahms’ First Symphony, a fitting homage to the composer’s hero, Beethoven.

Märkl Conducts Brahms 1

Overflowing with lush melodies and sumptuous orchestrations, Maestro Tausk leads the VSO in Rachmaninoff’s towering Second Symphony. French-Canadian cellist Jean-Guihen Queyras has “always been willing to range outside the comfort zone of most of his colleagues” (The New Yorker) and tackles one of the 20th century’s most important additions to the cello repertoire, Tout un monde lointain… (A Whole Distant World…) by French composer Henri Dutilleux. Experience Canadian Michael Oesterle’s La Chapelle, a musical tribute to Montreal’s historic Bon-Pasteur Chapel.

Rachmaninoff’s Second Symphony

Maestro Tausk leads the orchestra in Sergei Prokofiev’s exhilarating Fifth Symphony, written at the height of WWII and considered by the composer to be one of his best works. Virtuoso Paul Huang, known for his “masterly account of Barber’s Violin Concerto” (The New York Times) returns to dazzle Vancouver audiences with this lyrical masterpiece. Savour the delicate beauty of O Rose by former VSO Composer in Residence, the late Jocelyn Morlock.

Tausk Conducts Prokofiev 5

Brahms x Radiohead is an epic symphonic synthesis of Radiohead’s album OK Computer and the Brahms First Symphony, composed for full symphony orchestra and three solo vocalists. The piece offers a reimagined experience of each work by seeing it through the lens of the other, exploring the explosive tension and deep pathos they have in common. Brahms’ 19th-century orchestral sound palette is used throughout, but woven in, superimposed, and inserted are the melodies and music of Radiohead. At times one hears the themes and lyrics of Radiohead suspended over Brahms’ symphony; at times the orchestra plays the music of Radiohead but filtered through the counterpoint and harmonies of Brahms. Every combination of synthesis is explored in Hackman’s recomposition, as the music moves from one to the other so seamlessly that many times the audience is left wondering which is which, and how the combination was even possible.

Brahms X Radiohead with the VSO

Legendary cellist and cultural ambassador Yo-Yo Ma reunites with Maestro Tausk and the VSO for an unforgettable performance of Edward Elgar’s deeply moving Cello Concerto, composed in the aftermath of World War I. Paired with Sergei Rachmaninoff’s towering Second Symphony and Samy Moussa’s evocative Adgilis Deda, this is a concert experience to treasure for years to come.

Yo-Yo Ma with the VSO

Conductor Anna-Maria Helsing presents an evening of music sparkling with love’s many facets. Relive one of the greatest love stories ever told through Sergei Prokofiev’s ballet suite inspired by Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. Named as “simply one of the best classical pianists working today” by The Scotland Herald, Vadym Kholodenko presents Béla Bartók’s radiant Third Piano Concerto. The late Finnish composer Kaija Saariaho’s evocative Lumière et pesanteur (Light and Gravity) scintillates with celestial beauty. Embark on an enchanted quest for love in Prokofiev’s orchestral suite for his comic opera, The Love for Three Oranges.

Prokofiev’s Romeo & Juliet

Celebrated as one of the greatest composers in the history of film, Henry Mancini created countless film scores and some of the most memorable music of our time. Join conductor Sean O’Loughlin and the VSO in a celebration of this amazing artist, featuring such classics as “Moon River,” Charade and Peter Gunn.

Mostly Mancini

Journey with Toronto Symphony Orchestra Conductor Emeritus Peter Oundjian through the vivid imagery of Mussorgsky’s glorious Pictures at an Exhibition. “Set to dominate the piano world for a long time to come” (The Times of London), Simon Trpčeski tackles Rachmaninoff’s impressive First Piano Concerto, bursting with virtuosic passages. Joan Tower’s Concerto for Orchestra opens the evening showcasing the exceptional musicians of the VSO.

Pictures At An Exhibition

Celebrated French pianist Hélène Grimaud returns to the VSO to treat us to George Gershwin’s Concerto in F Major, brimming with enthusiasm and rhythm. English conductor Alexander Shelley summons the orchestra’s many musical colours in Ravel’s sensual ballet, Daphnis et Chloé. Peruvian composer Jimmy López’s Aino, hailed by The Chicago Tribune as “one of the most effective CSO commissions in recent seasons” receives its hotly anticipated Vancouver premiere.

Grimaud Plays Gershwin

Gustav Mahler famously told fellow composer Jean Sibelius that “The symphony must be like the world. It must embrace everything.” Maestro Tausk brings the VSO’s classical season to an epic close with one of the most ambitious symphonies ever composed, Mahler’s extraordinary Third Symphony. Mezzo-soprano Rihab Chaieb returns to the VSO in Mahler’s most extroverted and impressive work of genius that culminates in one of the most staggering conclusions of the orchestral canon.

Mahler’s Third Symphony

Host Christopher Gaze and conductor Andrew Crust bring our Tea and Trumpets series to a showstopping conclusion with hits from the Great White Way including: The Sound of Music, A Chorus Line, Candide, Les Misérables and more!

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